The Ozone Layer

The ozone layer is an essential layer of gases in our atmosphere.

It protects us and other animals and plants (aquatic and land) from getting harmed by the Sun's ultraviolet radiation.

Protecting us from UV rays also means that it protects us from skin cancer, eye and immune system problems. It also means less sunburns and skin blistering!

But starting from the late 1970's and the early 1980's, this natural sunscreen has started to decrease. And you know why? It's because of the spread of use of chemicals such as halon and CFC (chlorofluorocarbon). CFC (such as chlorofluorocarbon, hydro chlorofluorocarbon, etc.) was mainly used as a propeller in aerosol spray cans, as a refrigerant, as a cleaning agent, a solvent, and a blowing agent in creating plastic. And it's not just CFC that has decreased the ozone layer: there's also halon. Halon is a cleaning agent and is a type of fire extinguisher. But not only is it harmful to the ozone layer and is a cause of our natural sunscreen's depletion: it might harm humans. Effects such as nausea, headache, lightheadedness, etc., could take over workers from contaminants of halon discharge systems and Halon 1211 and Halon 1301 fire extinguishers.

But that isn't the end of the history of the ozone hole. Starting from around 2019 - 2020, a huge ozone hole appeared over Antarctica, taking over millions of square kilometers and once becoming even bigger than Antarctica itself! It was mainly caused by chlorine and bromine, fueled by the fact that it had horribly low temperatures and formation of polar stratospheric clouds. Luckily, it didn't develop too much after that because of quick stratospheric warming and higher temperatures, which completely stopped the ozone hole from increasing any further. As it is slowly healing, scientists are saying that it would close completely by around the 2050's and 2060's.

And there's not just ozone depletion in Antarctica. It's all over the world, such as in the tropics, for instance. Mainly due to acceleration of the Brewer - Dobson circulation, chemical production and again lots of greenhouse emissions, the ozone layer of gases is still depleting although it's making a tiny recovery, year by year.

There may still be illegal production of CFCs and of course there is an overwhelming use of greenhouse gases. And the ozone layer is still trying to keep balance as we are constantly in the danger of too many UV rays. So as we move on, let's always be aware of CFCs and halon, making sure not to use them in any way since many of these chemicals, especially halon because it's not fully banned yet, are still given out and used worldwide. One example is CFC - 11, trichlorofluoromethane. It really harms the ozone layer, and, even though its production was supposed to cease by 2010, scientists still say somewhere out there in this world, someone or a group of people is still illegally producing it.

So, to end this article, never try to use these chemicals or produce them, and, as always, try to lower the amount of greenhouse gases you produce since it, along with others, harms the ozone layer badly, and, without a lot of it, many health and production problems would occur.